The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults) by Scanlon Robert

Author:Scanlon, Robert [Scanlon, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Colete Pty Ltd
Published: 2015-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

~ 21 ~

Terrorist Alert

Rona thumbed the TV remote, sat back in her armchair and stretched. She’d had another tricky day at the shop, besieged by people who claimed the supplies she had sold them were faulty.

But they all had the same story: Sudden glitches in their drawings, a slip of the brush, a spillage of inks, opaque shading that was supposed to be delicately light. In short; all manner of issues. None of which she could reproduce when they brought the offending items back.

Normally she didn't use the TV. In fact she'd considered ditching it, since it played no useful purpose in her creative pursuits—almost the opposite, if she thought about it—but tonight she needed to be mindless, and put the day behind her.

The truth was, she could reproduce their issues. Not with her customers’ purchases, but in the privacy of her own artistic pursuits. In the last two days, she'd experienced similar problems; a sudden shift, and she was looking at a giant eye; or a big smear of black oil across a pretty pastel still-life.

At first she'd put it down to a flashback of her own issues, and had experienced mild anxiety that the unexplained blackouts and dizziness would return, but of course, they hadn't. Just bouts of awful, uncontrollable art.

Something on the news caught her attention and she unmuted the TV.

"... are now certain the cause of these widespread problems with creativity black-spots are man-made; though some still subscribe to the alien-space-dust-conspiracy." The scene flicked to a group of raggedly-dressed bearded young men, and women in flowery skirts and headbands, all holding up placards with similar slogans. 'Alien Dust Cover-Up!', 'CIA Lies About Alien Contamination!'

It was ridiculous, irrational, and for anyone to even consider it, she would have thought them stark raving mad; yet it was clear from her own experience, and now the news, that what she and her customers and students were experiencing was not some minor issue, but was indeed a global problem. Though the chances of it being caused by alien space dust were pretty slim. In her view, the human race had, in its brief history, managed to discover some very frightening ways to hurt itself, and it didn’t need any extra help from aliens to manage that.

She sighed. She'd had a good life and had already survived a very close call. If this really was the bizarre way mankind was about to self-destruct, then so be it.

Feeling the tension in her shoulders, she wondered if the perpetual doom and gloom pedalled by the broadcasters had infected her usual optimism, and she moved to turn the TV off, when a familiar face stared out at her from the screen. Where did she remember that face from?

The caption slid in: 'Sarina Metcalfe'. Rona turned up the volume. "... promising young artist, Sarina Metcalfe, aged twelve. Police are asking for everyone to be on the lookout for the girl and report all sightings. Please do not attempt to apprehend her. Sources close to the

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